Sullivan woman gets 90 days in jail for OUI, probation violation

ELLSWORTH, Maine — A Sullivan woman, who had been drinking when she swerved her sports-utility vehicle into a bridge guardrail, has been sentenced to serve 90 days in jail.

Christina A. Richards, 34, had a blood-alcohol content of 0.16 percent, twice the state’s legal limit for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, when the accident happened, according to police.

Richards, 34, appeared in Hancock County Superior Court on Thursday to plead guilty to OUI and violating probation on a previous theft conviction.

Hancock County Assistant District Attorney Mary Kellett told Justice Ann Murray that on Sept. 19 the guardrail on the Hancock-Sullivan Bridge prevented Richards’ 2001 Ford Explorer going into the Taunton River. After she struck the guardrail, Richards continued on, driving through the parking lot of a business at the east end of the bridge and across a nearby lawn before the SUV came to a stop. She then continued on foot to her nearby home.

Police responding to calls about the incident found Richards at her home a few minutes later, Kellett said.

Last March, six months before that incident, Richards had been found guilty in the same court of of theft and received a fully suspended sentence of two years, according to court officials.

On Thursday, after pleading guilty to operating a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicants, Richards was sentenced to 60 days in jail on that charge and 90 days of probation revocation stemming from the previous theft conviction. The sentences are to be served concurrently at Hancock County Jail.

In addition, Richards’ driver’s license has been suspended for six years and she has been ordered to pay a $1,100 fine. Murray granted a request from Richards to delay the start of her jail sentence until Friday, Feb. 8. No explanation for the stay of her sentence was given in court.